Letter to the editor (April 29, 2014)Power outage Thank you, Entergy, for the quick response to the outage in Carden Bottom. It may have been a lot more widespread, I don’t know, but I would rather face a short while without power than have to face the heartache that families in Mayflower and Vilonia are dealing with this morning. Our prayers to all them. Rev. Wayne Bookout Pontoon

Letter to the editor (April 24, 2014)Board of Trustees of Arkansas Tech I was impressed with the Arkansas Tech University Board of Trustees today (Tuesday) and the positive statements made by our Governor Mike Beebe concerning their contributions. The Board of Trustees obviously understood their role in higher education and executed their role with distinction. Mr. Beebe had the highest praise for their conduct and understanding of their role in allowing Dr. Brown to conduct the ...

Letter to the editor (April 18, 2014)Center Valley Crematorium As parents and grandparents, we want to protect our kids from harm physically, emotionally and psychologically. Yet we are facing a challenge like no other, one that it seems is being forced upon us. It simply does not make sense to place a crematory next to an elementary school. It is documented the cremation process releases colorless and odorless mercury vapors, what is not known is an exact amount. Per the EPA, yo...

Letter to the editor (April 16, 2014)Senior interaction encouraged I recently experienced, as an observer, a heart-warming and, I think, a very healthy situation at our senior center. I refer to the visit and interaction with our seniors by a group of local high school students. Being an oriental and one who has traveled widely, I was reminded of the all too frequent practice of division between the young and the elders of American society. In my homeland, the elderly are venerat...

Letter to the editor (April 16, 2014)Water fluoridation I have to disagree with my old friend, Dr. Sandra Young, about water system fluoridation. The fluoridation of public water has been hailed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) as one of the top medical achievements of the 20th century. It is ranked No. 9 on this list, ahead of “Recognition of tobacco use as a health hazard.” Every major health organization in the world, including the American Medical Association (AM...

Letter to the editor (April 12, 2014)Fluoride toxicity In 2011, the Arkansas Legislature passed a law requiring water companies that serviced 5,000 or more to put fluoride in the water. Our water is fluoridated (at considerable expense, I might add). This was supposed to lessen the number of cavities in children. However, fluoride works by topical application, not by ingestion. An article was just published in the highly respected Journal Lancet Neurology March 2014 in which medi...

Letter to the editor (April 12, 2014)Neighborhood market As a youngster, growing up in the Chicago suburbs, I often visited a friend who lived in Rogers Park. We would frequent his neighborhood market. It was owned by an Italian gentleman, named Giovianni. He was about 60, with white thinning hair, about 5’5” and 130 pounds. Everybody was his “goomba.” He had a grocery store with about 1,800 square feet. He displayed his produce on the sidewalk in front of the store. He cut his o...

Letter to the editor (April 6, 2014)When churches start collecting for Easter eggs in February, there is an appearance of more attention being paid to the Easter Bunny than to Christ’s death and resurrection. Being children of German heritage who enjoyed Easter by going to grandmother’s and grandad’s house, where there was always a large bowl of colored eggs (real boiled ones) for us grandchildren to enjoy finding, along with grandmother’s pink or blue tinted coconut cakes, brin...

Letter to the editor (April 2, 2014)Captain Marvel Travis Simpson’s “the fall of Captain Marvel” was fun to read. I do find that I must question an assertion he makes at the end of the story. “Superman, on the other hand, is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist. I think he can outsmart a 12-year-old.” He may want to rethink that given the state of journalism today. I did enjoy the piece. Bill Belovicz Dover

Letter to the editor (March 19, 2014)Russellville Parks I visited the Illinois Bayou Park at Dwight Mission the other day and walked its trail. It is a really nice trail that can be used for walking, running, biking and skateboarding. Congratulations to all those responsible. They did a good job of designing and building this new park. It is a wonderful addition to the local community. Samuel Andrews Russellville

Letter to the editor (March 18, 2014)Aquatic Center location The Wednesday, March 12 article discusses three possible sites for a proposed indoor aquatic center. The consultants recommended Vick Field, ranking it above the Boys and Girls Club and a site on North Phoenix Avenue. Reasons included for down rating the latter two sites included their having initial costs of $50,000 and $80,000 greater than Vick Field. The project has been estimated to cost about $8,400,000 which means...

Letters to the editor (March 15, 2014)Sweetheart Saturday Sweetheart Saturday is a two-hour event held the Saturday before Valentine’s Day each year at the Hughes Community Center. This 10th annual food-tasting event with a silent auction was recently held on a snowy Saturday, Feb. 8. For a $10 ticket, you have lunch from the tasting booths and lots of fun led by Johnny Story and Shelly Jones, Arkansas Hospice Volunteer Coordinator. These restaurants and individuals helped make it...

Letter to the editor (March 5, 2014)Liberty and justice for all? We see it with regularity. Someone who is well connected and has a reputation within a community goes free while anyone else would be indicted, fined and imprisoned. Once again we see this occur with the misdemeanor trial of a Kennedy. Admittedly, her father was a beloved person. Robert Kennedy did more in the sixties to effect civil rights and equality under the law than anyone has done since Abraham Lincoln. John...

Letter to the editor (March 5, 2014)Tommy Jackson’s column on Brad Paisley I too loved that song, although I didn’t know who Brad Paisley was. I thought paisley was a psychedelic fabric pattern, and sort of a weird name for a country singer. I lived the life of the narrative with one exception. I was five when my dad died and my mother never re-married, not fun in 1950. About two decades ago, I worked in Dallas one summer on a hail storm. My 79 Olds radio would not work, but the...

Letter to the editor (Feb. 28, 2014)The value of community pharmacists As a local community pharmacist, I wanted to call attention to a troubling lobbying effort by big health care in Washington. Pharmaceutical companies and chain drug stores are trying to limit the coverage of seniors with Medicare Part D drug plans. Regulators at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) are considering new rules that would expand pharmacy choice for those on Medicare. However, oppon...

Letter to the editor (Feb. 26, 2014)Brick crosswalks need to be replaced To our mayor, city engineer, city council and citizens. As a somewhat experienced construction man, only 55 years experience in many countries, I have a comment concerning the crosswalks on Main Street downtown Russellville. It was, as you now know, a bad decision to put the brick crosswalks in to begin with — called hindsite. I agree with our city engineer to replace these crosswalks with 18-inch of re-enf...

Letter to the editor (Feb. 16, 2014)U.S. Sen. Pryor votes against gun owners Sen. Pryor recently voted against an Amendment to allow concealed weapons carry in post offices. Sen. Pryor has often professed to support the Second Amendment, but his vote in the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee would appear to cast doubt on his support. It is illegal to carry a concealed weapon into a post office, or even to have one in your car if you enter a post office parking lot. Sen. Rand ...

Letter to the editor (Feb. 6, 2014)Why Overturn the Planning Commission? I am concerned about the ongoing controversy over the proposed Overland Park subdivision. I agree that the City Council is suffering from a lack of public confidence, but I disagree that a letter of apology for an alleged claim of misconduct by members of the City Council is the solution. I suggest the City Council members that felt it proper to overturn the Russellville Planning Commission and disregard t...

Letters to the editor (Feb. 2, 2014)Most commissioners are not bad people For almost 30 years, my real estate practice has placed me in front of planning commissioners, city councils and quorum courts. Russellville the most, but Pottsville, Atkins, Dardanelle and Clarksville at times. Some of these projects I was involved with personally, but most of the time I was representing a buyer or seller, or both. Never have I been approached in any way at any time in any form of a bribe...

Letter to the editor (Dec. 20, 2013)Veterans' Home Commission errs Referencing your write-up of the Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs conducted on Dec. 17, the cited Committee Meeting was a total injustice to the 20 cities that submitted proposals to have the honor of being the location for the new Veterans’ Home. The RFI which we all received as the foundation for input clearly stated, “Please note the previously announced requirement that the Veterans Home be within two ...